New ISIS threat: America's electric grid; blackout could kill 9 of 10

Former top government officials who have been warning Washington about the vulnerability of the nation’s largely unprotected electric grid are raising new fears that troops from the jihadist Islamic State are poised to attack the system, leading to a power crisis that could kill millions.

New ISIS threat: America's electric grid; blackout could kill 9 of 10

So we have another to add to the pile of possible attacks, man they are ramping it up lately. I think we have known this could be a target, but could a group like ISIS really pull this off? Crash 11 stolen planes into big power plants??? Might as well start combining threats....affecting some areas, maybe, but I say no to the wide scale variety...

I'm not saying that all the warnings/theories are wrong, but... there are LOTS of them, huh? A few more and it'll be hard to take any of them too seriously.

Putting that aside and assuming this could happen, 9 of 10... terrible odds. I'm not sure I believe it'd be THAT bad, but there's no denying it'd be bad. Here's hoping it's just a rumour.

Going to do a shameless plug here.

That is why the 'survival' forum exists.

Learn how to be self reliant instead of waiting for government to come 'save' you.

People need to realize just how fragile our so called 'civilization' is.

In the blink of an eye.

Enter the stone age.

Take a good look at Hurricane Sandy, and Katrina to see 'Fema' in action.

Ahhh Muslim extremists.....all ways the optimists.

like that isis branch organization " maple tree in ohio" did a few years ago...
that blackout lasted what ten days?
they tried to blame isis Canada for that one...didn't fly with the facts that time though.

right, ISIS would be doing the grid a favour....a big fat excuse to fail
like a piece of string: be afraid....knot

It doesn't even have to be planes, a few well placed cells with certain resources could cause massive damage. Whats to say they haven't been able to convert employees of power companies, and other public utilities. We may be facing a extremely large extremely well planned attack.

I was talking with a friend earlier today about how if they did attack on 9/11 (a day when our alert was highest) and pulled it off how it would assert their dominance by saying "we can do what we want and you can't stop us".

originally posted by: crazyewok
Ahhh Muslim extremists.....all ways the optimists.

I would say people have something to be concerned about.

Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism

a reply to: Wiz4769

It would take hundreds of attacks to knock the whole grid out. It's a very patchy system that can take a hit in many spots and it won't effect others. It's been put together over time by many different power companies.

Hittin the grid in certain areas tho could be pretty devastating I just don't see it killing millions.

a reply to: neo96
I'm told that cali attack was exactly done as it is taught to US special forces in their asymmetrical warfare handbooks

originally posted by: neo96

originally posted by: crazyewok
Ahhh Muslim extremists.....all ways the optimists.

I would say people have something to be concerned about.

Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism

Sure they can do some damage.

But take out all the USA power grid at once?

NAH

Come on these are not the brightest sparks (HEHE)


But the USA could do with being more vigilant and putting armed guards on weak points like major sub stations and power stations.

a reply to: crazyewok

I am not holding my breath there.

They can't even secure the border.

They sure as hell won't secure any of that.

That would actually mean they would be doing their jobs.

And they can't have that.

I think they would probably pull it off a few days beforehand, like 9-9.

A surprise attack.

Killing 9 of 10 does seem a bit high.
What has me confused is why would the Islamic State want to provoke the US into an armed fight at this point, if I were them I would consolidate my power and make sure I have firm footing and more supporters before poking the bear so to say

Suh-weet, the doom is back on.

So should I buy some plastic and duct tape my house up?!

a reply to: TexasSeabee

They would love to be able to pull it off when we "expect" it. But if they were trying to recruit local power company employees and such, they would get caught real quick. They would have to already be in place. That deal in Cali was definitely not a bunch of rag tag guys running a test. They knew what they were doing and were more than likely special forces types.

I think the only real threat to a wide scale grid outage is EMP, and that will be hard to pull off like it would need to be done. Im thinking more like small scale scattered BS things happening is about all they could do.

Knocking out the power grid would be a massive undertaking that I doubt IS is capable of. That and knocking out a power grid doesn't really fit the "terror" mold.....I mean if the power goes out I am not going to go into a panic and feel threatened so really knocking out the power would not strike fear into the hearts of the people methinks....more of a nuisance for a bit.

They would have to follow it up with a full invasion, which I am POSITIVE they could not pull off in the US. So I think this scenario is the least likely to take place.

a reply to: mindseye1609

If you take into consideration that they could have hundreds of attacks simultaneously then it would be very possible. But then it would not need to be all at once but more in waves. Hit several points and cause a panic and get response, hit more and cause chaos with less resources to respond, hit a little more and let the nation fight itself. When that all gets going establish your army and begin the fight.

originally posted by: neo96
a reply to: crazyewok

I am not holding my breath there.

They can't even secure the border.

They sure as hell won't secure any of that.

That would actually mean they would be doing their jobs.

And they can't have that.

A insecure border means nothing to the government. More illegals more low paid workers. Dosnt affect the fat cats sitting in capital hill, only benefits them, I mean that lawn wont mow its self will it?

A nation wide power grid failure? Thats bad for everyone. Unemployed, the middle class, upper middle class, rich,super rich political class, bankers ect

a reply to: crazyewok

A nation wide power grid failure? Thats bad for everyone. Unemployed, the middle class, upper middle class, rich,super rich political class, bankers ect

There in lies the rub.

What is 'bad' for us. Is GOOD for them.

The more money they get to take.

The more power they get to take.

That is what the US government does, and it is the only thing it does 'well'.

Create problems to offer their 'solutions'.

While I can't stand ISIS or radicial Islamo fascists.

There is a greater 'enemy of the state'.

That is our/my own government.

originally posted by: mindseye1609
It would take hundreds of attacks to knock the whole grid out.

It would take 30 critical substations, over a span of approx 72 hours, to drop the entire grid.

If that actually happens, it will take upwards of 18 months to get the entire grid back online, and that is assuming that water, oil, and gas continue to flow...which they wont, as they are electrical grid dependent for far longer than onsite backups can provide.

In the case of no power, water, oil, or NG, it would take between 24 and 36 months to reinstate a full grid.